The Circumference of the World
Checking Availibility...Description
Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2023
Caught between realities, a mathematician, a book dealer, and a mobster desperately seek a notorious book that disappears upon being read. Only the author, a rakish sci-fi writer, knows whether his popular novel is truthful or a hoax. In a story that is cosmic, inventive, and sly, multi-award-winning author Lavie Tidhar (Central Station) travels from the emergence of life to the very ends of the universe.
"Ingeniously constructed and stylistically protean, this seven-course banquet of a novel glistens with the Golden Age of science fiction, even as it nourishes our neurons with a marvelous thought experiment."
--James Morrow, award-winning author of Shambling Towards Hiroshima
Delia Welegtabit discovered two things during her childhood on a South Pacific island: her love for mathematics and a novel that isn't supposed to exist. But the elusive book proves unexpectedly dangerous. Oskar Lens, a science fiction-obsessed mobster in the midst of an existential crisis, will stop at nothing to find the novel. After Delia's husband Levi goes missing, she seeks help from Daniel Chase, a young, face-blind book dealer.
The infamous novel Lode Stars was written by the infamous Eugene Charles Hartley: legendary pulp science-fiction writer and founder of the Church of the All-Seeing Eyes. In Hartley's novel, a doppelganger of Delia searches for her missing father in a strange star system. But is any of Lode Stars real? Was Hartley a cynical conman on a quest for wealth and immortality, creating a religion he did not believe in? Or was he a visionary who truly discovered the secrets of the universe?
About this Author
British Science Fiction, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy Award winning author Lavie Tidhar (A Man Lies Dreaming, The Escapement, Unholy Land, The Hood) is an acclaimed author of literature, science fiction, fantasy, graphic novels, and middle grade fiction. Tidhar received the Campbell, Xingyun, and Neukom awards for the novel Central Station. In addition to his fiction and nonfiction, Tidhar is the editor of the Apex Best of World Science Fiction series and a columnist for the Washington Post. His speaking appearances include Cambridge University, PEN, and the Singapore Writers Festival. He has been a Guest of Honour at book conventions in Japan, Poland, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, China, and elsewhere; he is currently a visiting professor and writer in residence at the American International University. Tidhar currently resides with his family in London.
Reviews
Guardian: Five of the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2023
Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2023
New Scientist 13 Best New Science Fiction Books of 2023
Literary Hub September's Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
Aurist October's Best-Written Recent Releases in SF/Fantasy/Horror
Foreword Book of the Day
Los Angeles Public Library: Best Fiction and Literature of 2023
Locus Recommended Reading List
Book and Film Globe Most Meta of 2023
Portalist Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of 2023
"Inventive, thought-provoking, audacious and, as ever with Tidhar, superbly readable, this is where his genius lies."
--Guardian
[STARRED REVIEW] "World Fantasy Award winner Tidhar (Neom) wows with a mind-bending existential adventure that seeks to answer the age-old question of why humanity exists. In 2001 London, four characters converge around the lost science fiction book Lode Stars, written decades earlier by Eugene Charles Hartley. It's rumored that Hartley, who also founded the sketchy Church of God's All-Seeing Eyes, discovered the 'true nature of reality' and encoded it into the novel, which follows heroine Delia as she searches for her father. The novel also posits that humans are reconstructed memories swirling inside black holes, which are the eyes of God, and that alien 'eaters' feed on these reconstituted humans. Only possession of Lode Stars itself can ward off this danger. Albino mathematician Delia Welegtabit, who happens to have the same name as Lode Star's heroine, is drawn into the hunt for the book by her husband, obsessive mathematician Levi. When Levi disappears, Delia turns to Daniel Chase, a rare book collector, to investigate--but then Daniel is himself kidnapped by mobster Oskar Lens, who believes in the book's power and wants it to protect him from the eaters. Toggling between perspectives and the ethereal text of Lode Stars, Tidhar's slippery metafictional tale lyrically entangles scientific fact, mysticism, and mental illness. This is a knockout."
--Publishers Weekly
[STARRED REVIEW] "Inquisitive, daring, and rich with possibilities, The Circumference of the World is a speculative masterpiece."
--Foreword
"Brilliant and bizarre, Lavie Tidhar's The Circumference of the World is many things--but fundamentally it is a love letter to the Golden Age of science fiction."
--Molly Tanzer, author of Vermilion and Creatures of Will and Temper
"The Circumference of the World is an ambitious and ambiguous book showing Tidhar at top form."
--Chicago Review of Books
"Tidhar's rich portrayal of the pulpy golden age of science fiction, distinctive characters, and nimble turns of phrase make for a cool confection."
--Kirkus
"Longtime SF readers will easily spot the real-world parallels, but that doesn't stop Tidhar from telling a compelling story of obsession and greed that will make readers think about the nature of reality. VERDICT Readers who fell hard into the metafiction of The Night Ocean by Paul La Farge or the you-are-there gossip of Astounding by Alec Nevala-Lee will likely be as obsessed with this book as the characters are with Lode Stars."
--Library Journal
"Tidhar's melancholy, beautiful and yet improbably light-touch narrative, meanwhile, is structured like a nesting doll."
--New Scientist
"Ingeniously constructed and stylistically protean, this seven-course banquet of a novel glistens with the Golden Age of science fiction, even as it nourishes our neurons with a marvelous thought experiment."
--James Morrow, award-winning author of Shambling Towards Hiroshima
5/5 Stars. "You know you've discovered something special when immediately after reading a book you start looking for other titles by the same author...a magnificent whole."
--Popular Science
"Tidhar wins it all with this magnificently original mind-bender of a novel about a missing husband and a mysterious book that disappears as soon as you read it. The Circumference of the World is two parts Philip K. Dick, two parts Brothers Strugatsky, and six parts blow your f**king mind."
--Junot Díaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
"I always have been partial to dangerous books, and to fictions about dangerous books, and the one at the swirling center of this exhilarating tour de force is a doozy--just like every book by Lavie Tidhar."
--Andy Duncan, three-time World Fantasy Award winner
"Tidhar has been compared to writers like Philip K. Dick and Kurt Vonnegut, but, with the story's spiraling structure and novel-within-a-novel mystery, the writers that came to my mind the most while reading were Jorge Luis Borges and Michael Ende."
--Ancillary Review of Books
"The Circumference of the World is an ambitious and ambiguous book showing Tidhar at top form."
--Chicago Review of Books
5/5 stars. "Tidhar does here for science fiction what Gene Wolfe did in his fantasy novel peak with the likes of Castleview, Free Live Free, There are Doors, Pandora by Holly Hollander, and The Sorceror's House.... a fantastic mélange of a book."
--Popular Science
"Reading a new Lavie Tidhar novel is always a treat. You can count on engaging prose paired with an inventive story and The Circumference of the World certainly fits that bill."
--The Speculative Shelf
"Like matter spiraling into a black hole--everything here simply lights up, bathing the reader with its intense radiation. An amazing read, strongly recommended."
--Blue Book Balloon
"The author weaves rational thought, a bit of fanaticism, madness and mysticism into a tapestry that will fascinate contemporary readers and would have made the writers who came before him proud."
--Los Angeles Public Library
"It's enthralling, meta, and sure to surprise you in the best of ways."
--Portalist
5/5 stars "Mr. Tidhar's love of SF is real, y'all, and the total shift in styles and tone and voice just makes me want to clap with joy. Again, he shows me what a world-class talent he is."
--Bradley Horner's Book Corner
5/5 stars "This is a gripping read, a blend of science fiction and fantasy with a little detective fiction thrown in. I've read other books by the author and have also found them to be strange and beautiful. I loved this."
--The Book Lover's Boudoir
"Lavie Tidhar is one of today's most prolific SF writers, deeply embedded in the scene as writer, editor and anthologist, and who also has an encyclopedic knowledge of SF history. Circumference of the World puts all of these together in a novel that comprises a bewilderingly rich tapestry of SF allusion."
--Book and Film Globe
"Wow! I can't remember the last book I read like this that wasn't written by Phillip K. Dick! The book was trippy and weird, leaving me wondering what really happened in it in all the best ways."
--Disciples of Boltax
"A creative space opera strewn with Easter eggs from science fiction and fantasy.
--Woven Tale Press
"A genre-splitting poetic expression that pays homage to classic science fiction with call-outs and appearances by Campbell, Heinlein, and others."
--Those Crazy Books
"Lavie Tidhar's trippy, metafictional ode to the golden age of science fiction."
--Literary Hub
"This book contains a memoir, a hard-boiled detective section, a prison journal, portions of a non-existent book from the pulp era of sci-fi, and the letters of writers. It's brilliant."
--PrimmLife
"Fascinating world building, questions and [an] excellent storytelling."
--Scrapping and Playing
"All in all, Lavie Tidhar is a rare story-teller, indeed, equally adept at pondering metaphysical questions, skewering cynics who exploit religious fanaticism for personal gain, and firing off bursts of intriguing ideas, reminiscent of Charles Stross. What a delight it was to let Tidhar's entertaining exuberance sweep me away."
--Analog
"This novel is a powerful work of meta-fiction, we can compare it to PKD, which is a compliment around here but it is a pure product of Lavie Tihar's genius. His blend of imagination, genre history and ability to blend into thought experiments is what makes him one of my favorite modern writers."
--Postcards From a Dying World News
If the product is in stock at the store nearest you, we suggest you call ahead to have it set aside for you, or you may place an order online and choose in-store pickup.
